It Still Takes Faith (Matthew 27:62-66; Matthew 28:1-15)

Apostle’s Creed Discussion...

The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Apostles’ Creed)

APOSTLES’ CREED (Symbolum Apostolorum). A statement of Christian belief that is used by Western churches, both Catholic and Protestant. While it is explicitly affirmed only in Western churches, it reflects traditions that were affirmed officially by the entire Church in the Nicene Creed. Although its roots are much earlier, in its present form it dates to about the eighth century.

The Old Roman Creed

An early version of what later became the Apostles’ Creed, called the “Old Roman Creed,” was in use as early as the second century (Kelly, Creeds, 101). The earliest written form of this creed is found in a letter that Marcellus of Ancyra wrote in Greek to Julius, the bishop of Rome, about AD 341. About 50 years later, Tyrannius Rufinus wrote a commentary on this creed in Latin (Commentarius in symbolum apostolorum). In it, he recounted the viewpoint that the apostles wrote the creed together after Pentecost, before leaving Jerusalem to preach (Symb. 2). The title “Apostles’ Creed” is also mentioned about 390 by Ambrose, where he refers to “the creed of the Apostles which the Church of Rome keeps and guards in its entirety” (Ep. 42, trans. in Saint Ambrose: Letters). The text of the Old Roman Creed is as follows, with the last phrase (included by Marcellus but omitted by Rufinus) in brackets (Kelly, Creeds, 102):

I believe in God the Father almighty;

and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord,

Who was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,

Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried,

on the third day rose again from the dead,

ascended into heaven,

sits at the right hand of the Father,

whence he will come to judge the living and the dead;

and in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Church,

the remission of sins,

the resurrection of the flesh,

[life everlasting].

The Later Creed

What we now know as the Apostles’ Creed is an enlargement of the Old Roman Creed.

Let us recite together this ancient statement of our faith. You may find the words on the screen, or in your hymnal as #8

It still takes faith...

Matthew 27:62–66 NIV

62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Matthew 28:1–15 NIV

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” 11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

It Takes FAITH to Accept the Claims of Resurrection!

But, no matter what, you have to deal with an empty tomb!

Many have tried to explain away the empty tomb and resurrection since DAY 1 according to Matthew.

And still, to this day, there are theories that exist to try and discredit/disprove the resurrection.

There have always been stories to explain away and debunk or call as myth the resurrection

Here are many of the big ones...

Resurrection is NOT scientifically possible. Once someone or something is dead it is dead and you cannot scientifically explain resurrection.

Ummm… DUH!!

You cannot scientifically explain creation either! You can try. But, there has been NOTHING proposed that has eliminated the Truth that something/someone had to start it all off.

Alpha Particles, energy, beta particles etc… still leave us wondering “Where did they come from?” And, a Big Bang theory, including those particles, still requires something/someone to start the creative process.

OD COURSE science cannot explain resurrection because science cannot explain life!

But, this idea goes back to the philosophy that miracles do not exist. The only thing that exists is science, and if science cannot explain it, then it doesn’t exist. It also goes back to an atheistic philosophy and religion that seeks to push God out of the picture of everyday life.

Hoax that was formatted over hundreds of years.

Format a hoax with women? The testimony of women would NOT have been valued during the time that this “hoax” was formatted. We see this in the Gospel accounts that the women were NOT believed. Why would a hoax be formatted on an unreliable testimony?

And, people went to their death believing in the resurrection. These are people who were eye witnesses of the Crucifixion of Jesus and they say him live again. Every one of the 12 disciples of Jesus (except for Judas who took his own life before the resurrection) was PERSONALLY persecuted for their faith that Jesus, although crucified, dead, and buried, lives again and they SAW HIM! The only one who didn’t die was John, but it is not because they didn’t try to kill him - he just didn’t die...

James (Son of Zebedee and brother of John) was beheaded (44Ad)

Philip evangelized upper Asia and was scourged (or whipped with the barbed whips like Jesus) and crucified (54 AD)

Matthew took the Gospel to Parthia and Ethiopia he was slain with a halberd (an ax with a spike on top) (60AD)

James (the half brother of Jesus) he was beat and stoned by the Jews and had his brains dashed out with a club

Matthias (who was elected to take Judas’ place) was stoned in Jerusalem and beheaded

Andrew (the brother of Peter) took the Gospel to many Asian countries. He was crucified on a cross that made the shape of an “X”

Mark was converted to Christianity by Peter. It is believed that he wrote Peter’s stories of the Gospel (we call it the Gospel of Mark today). Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria.

Peter was crucified outside the city of Rome. Declaring himself to be unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord, he asked to be crucified upside down. The Romans kindly obliged to his request.

Paul, not an original of the 12, but one who was converted about 3 years after the resurrection (VERY EARLY IN THE SCHEME OF HISTORY). He took the Gospel to Turkey, Asia, Greece, was beheaded in Rome, possibly after taking the Gospel further to Spain.

Jude was crucified in Edessa (Turkey) (72 AD)

Bartholomew translated Matthew’s Gospel from Hebrew into a language of India. He was beaten and then crucified.

Thomas preached in Parthia and also in India (where he took the Gospel to in India the Church of the Nazarene is forming a new district KEROLA). He was thrust through with a spear.

Luke who was converted by Paul and wrote a detailed account of Jesus and the Apostles (Luke and Acts). He was hanged on an olive tree in Greece.

Simon, the Zealot, took the Gospel to Africa and even Britain where he was crucified in 74 AD

John, the seven churches in Revelation, of modern day Turkey, were founded by him. He was thrown into a pot of boiling oil, but was unscathed! He was then banished to the Island of Patmos. He was the ONLY Apostle who escaped violent death...

Barnabas was martyred around 73 AD but it is unclear how. He was possibly stoned to death, or dragged through the city by his neck and then burned.

All these men, and MANY OTHERS went to their death in the EARLY days of the spread of the Gospel. Most of them (except a few) were EYE WITNESSES to the life, death, AND RESURRECTION of Jesus. And, they suffered TERRIBLE executions FAILING to recant what they had seen!

NO ONE DOES THAT FOR A FABRICATED HOAX!

But, The theory continues decalring that teh Gospels were written too late after the events of Jesus life and that they were a fabricated story. Some even declare that it is a story made up by Paul himself.

However, this theory ignores the evidence that the Gospels, although written later, do contain early material that dates back to just after the resurrection. For example, Mark's account of the passion and resurrection of Jesus is believed to be based upon a very early source.

Also, the proclamation of the resurrected Jesus goes back to the beginning of the Gospel message AND there are passages in the New Testament that contain early creeds that are proven to date back to the first few years after the resurrection 1 Cor. 15:3-8 is the nest example.

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 NIV

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

The textual evidence of this short passages points to the truth that this was shared as a statement of Truth about Jesus’ life, death AND RESURRECTION. For example, Peter, in this passage is referenced by his Aramaic name Cephas detailing that it is before his name was fully understood to have been changed by his master - and before Cephas took the Gospel to Greek people (like Cornelius) necessitating the use of his Greek name more.

Also, the creed details MANY people (500 HUNDRED at one time) who at the time of the writing of 1 Corinthians were mostly still alive and Paul ENCOURAGES the church, but declaring that they are still alive, that those people could be visited with and QUESTIONED on what they say and experienced.

This is CLEARLY NOT the work of a great fabrication!

Jesus didn't die...

This is a continuation of the fabrication hoax. Jesus didn’t really die… He just came really close to death and then was taken out of the tomb and declared resurrected...

However, the brutality and finality of crucifixion is never questioned on account of others. This also fails to recognize the talent of Roman soldiers to meticulously plan someone’s slow, painful death, as an example to warn others.

It also fails to realize that if someone did survive a crucifixion, the Romans soldiers would face strict punishment, and most likely their own crucifixion.

Furthermore, someone who might possibly survive a beating and crucifixion like what Jesus experienced would not have his disciples very early proclaiming him quite openly to be resurrected. There would be MONTHS of healing and recovery that the disciples would need to assist with.

Oh, and furthermore, early historians, such as Josephus who was NOT a believer in Jesus Christ detail that Jesus was, in fact, crucified!

No Matter what you do you have to come to terms with the fact that the tomb was EMPTY!

All of these attempts have been used to explain away an empty tomb.

Some even say that the women went to the WRONG tomb.

But, this never generated much traction because if that were the case, then when directed to the correct tomb they would be shown the error and the preaching of the resurrection would stop.

The truth is, the early disciples and early converts could go to the tomb and see it empty. THEY KNEW WHERE THE TOMB WAS.

Where for hundreds of years the Church in Jerusalem venerated the tomb where Jesus law dead, but was resurrected from, the church gathered regularly. That place NOW has a building over it (the church of the Holy Sepulcher) and to this day Christians gather there to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And that brings us to our text this morning...

Very early on those who opposed the message of Jesus Christ and His resurrection had to cover up an empty tomb. But, the could NOT ignore it!

There are some ironic elements in this story...

The guards, according to Matthew, were placed in front of the tomb to make certain the disciples would not steel the body of Jesus.

This is intriguing because it shows that the chief priest and pharisees did have an understanding of what Jesus said - possibly a greater understanding than the disciples. The powers that be had a plan to protect the preaching of resurrection even before resurrection took place (or at least thinking that the disciples would steel the body and declare resurrection). Whereas the disciples did not understand resurrection even after it happened!

After the resurrection took place the story became that the guards fells asleep and the disciples stole the body. In other words, declare to the people that the disciples did do what we thought they would do. AND, declare that you were terrible at your job to prevent them from doing it. We will pay you off for your lies (it must have been a HUGE payment) and if you are questioned by greater powers that could charge you with drastic charges we will take care of them too… I will assume that the guards were never questioned. NO ROMAN governor wants to hear that someone who was crucified is alive (and have to figure out what to do about that) and if a body of a criminal is stolen then it’s no big deal.

The irony is that the guards story was fabricated to say the very thing they were paid to make sure didn’t happen did in fact happen.

But, there is a deeper irony.

No one suggested that they deny that the tomb was empty! No one suggested that they tell the story that the women went to the wrong tomb. They suggested that they fabricate HOW the tomb was empty, but NOT THAT the tomb was empty...

Why? Because they knew were the tomb was. They ALSO could see that it was empty. The EMPTY tomb becomes EXHIBIT A that something drastic had happened. Other people could, and did, come to the empty tomb and see that it was, in fact, empty.

Maybe today people can get away with suggesting that it was the wrong tomb that the women went to, after all, over a couple of thousand years we might not know exactly where the tomb was. However, it is clear in the Gospels that people KNEW where the tomb was and they could go and see for themselves that it was empty.

So, a story is told as to HOW it could be empty and it hangs on the failure of those paid to keep robbery from happening in the 1st place.

No matter how we deal with it, and no matter how we disprove the theories that are opposed to resurrection it still takes FAITH to accept the resurrection and to accept what it means for us.

The point of all this is the reminder that our belief is one of accepting the faith. Yes, proof of resurrection is helpful, but it does not make us believe in resurrection and what it means for us.

Paul declares that some simply WILL NOT accept this message...

1 Corinthians 1:22–25 NIV

22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

It takes FAITH to accept!

Even if we accept that Jesus was resurrected and that he still lives today we STILL Must have the faith that knows that His resurrection means salvation for those who believe.

We are not saved because we can prove resurrection. We are saved when we believe that Jesus is God, he is our Lord and his death all the cross, albeit tragic, IS the ULTIMATE sacrifice for our sins and his resurrection vindicates him.

It still takes faith to believe that the power of the resurrected Christ is available to us and it enables us to LIVE A NEW LIFE NOW!

Romans 8:11 NIV

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Ephesians 1:18–21 NIV

18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

(ANOTHER EARLY CREED)

Our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is NOT SIMPLY a COGNITIVE, informational understanding. It REQUIRES FAITH.

It requires faith to believe that Scritpure is true

It requires faith to believe that through Jesus Christ there is New Life

It requires faith to believe that through Jesus Christ there is entrance into Eternity with God the father and Salvation from judgment and damnation

It requires Faith in the grace and forgiveness that is offered through Jesus Christ.

And, this faith, is also a gift from God that enables us to accept more in faith.

Paul stated Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8–9 NIV

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

We are indeed saved through the grace of Jesus Christ, by our faith that enables us to believe. But, Paul also states that this faith is ALSO a gift of God.

So, how is YOUR faith?

How is YOUR faith this morning?

These cognitive apologetics sometimes help to strengthen our faith, yes. But, we live in a world that DESPERATELY wants to lead us towards disbelief.

So, where do YOU struggle this morning? Where in your faith are you tempted to drift towards disbelief? Answers to questions may be given, but ultimately, the challenge for us is to accept in faith, AND THEN ask for MORE faith in our moments of disbelief.

There was an encounter with Jesus and the father of a boy who had been possessed by demons and the disciples could not do anything about it (Mark 9:14-29).

In Jesus’ encounter with the man, the man is open about his disbeleif. The father WANTS to believe that Jesus is who he says he is, and that Jesus has power of the unclean spirit, but he is also weak in his humanity to fully believe. The father exclaims, Mark 9:24

Mark 9:24 NIV

24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

I opinion that MANY of us are like that father. We believe, yet at times there are things that are too difficult for our faith to fully grasp. So, we make it our prayer, “Lord, I believe, please help my unbelief. Lord, give me more faith to be able to believe. So that I can have the faith to accept the grace of Jesus, or so that I can have the faith to accept the resurrection as true, or so I can have the faith to accept this teaching, or situation, or etc… Lord, grant me the faith I need to believe!

And through these times, and the moments our world tries to persuade us to disbelieve the resurrection we can have a greater understanding of what Jesus told Thomas...

John 20:29 NIV

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

We can recognize the challenge and blessing of believing the claims of the Gospel through FAITH. Thomas and the other disciples were eye witnesses, they say the empty tomb and say the resurrected Lord. They could see and have faith.

But, we today, we see with our hearts and our changed lives, and the changed lives of those around us who have encountered the resurrected Jesus is their life. No, not physically (although some might have) but in the power that came from the resurrected Christ to transform them. And so, we are enabled to believe even though we have not physically seen.

But, amidst the doubts and arguments and persuasion to disbelief, the response SHOULD ALWAYS BE, LORD HELP ME IN MY UNBELIEF.

Cognitive exercises might help. Apologetics COULD assist. But ultimately, it is an issue of faith, trust, belief… and that comes to us as a gift from God.

So, Lord, we believe, but help us in our unbelief!